SEIU Shows It Is Not About Employee Free Choice

By Dave Bego
05/29/2014
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), arguably the most ardent proponent of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), continues to demonstrate the hypocrisy of its true motives through its tactics and political machinations. The political maneuvering of the SEIU and its big labor brethren show that they do not have employee best interests at heart, and...

TAGS: Dave Bego, Fight for Fifteen, seiu

Comparing compensation information on Transparent California and State Controller’s site

By Robert Fellner
05/28/2014
Two is usually better than one, and that’s certainly true when it comes to databases of government employee compensation. In the case of California, there are two main searchable statewide databases. Those sites are TransparentCalifornia.com, which provides information on government payrolls and pensions, and the State Controller’s Office (SCO) Government Compensation website. The main advantage...

TAGS: Transparent California

Mileage Tax Would Put Big Brother in Your Back Seat

By Jon Coupal
05/28/2014
California is known as the world capital of the car culture. The automobile played a central role in creating the California Dream, giving people the freedom to travel, to live where they choose and to experience the exhilaration of the open road. Now, if Senator Mark DeSaulnier gets his way, you’ll have to pay a...

TAGS: Jon Coupal

Unions in the News – Weekly Highlights

By Editor
05/27/2014
A Labor Union Prepares To Strike, As Obamacare Ups Health Insurance Costs By 5.0-12.5% By Avik Roy, May 27, 2014, Forbes Labor unions have, of course, been among President Obama’s most reliable supporters. Unions’ support was critical to the passage of Obamacare in 2010. But unions are continuing to learn, to their apparent surprise, that...

Examining the CalSTRS Shareholder Bailout

By Edward Ring
05/27/2014
“CalSTRS has a $70-plus-billion unfunded liability – even with assumed investment earnings that Brown deems ‘highly unlikely’ – and says it needs about $5 billion more a year to regain solvency.” –  Dan Walters column, “Brown budget reflects state’s massive debt,” May 25, 2014, Sacramento Bee Those “investment earnings” that Walters quotes Brown as finding...

TAGS: CalSTRS, CalSTRS unfunded liability, normal pension contribution

Staples Removers

By Larry Sand
05/27/2014
Not content with stifling education reform and school choice, teachers unions have a new target. Dang! The teachers unions have been busier than ever lately. Trying to kill charter schools in California. Fighting teacher evaluations in Florida. Demonizing vouchers, well, everywhere. But now the unions’ have a new bête-noire: Staples. Staples? Yes, Staples. The troubled...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California Federation of Teachers, Josh Pechthalt, Larry Sand, monopoly, teachers union

Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power – Unions vs. Ratepayers

By Scott Walter
05/22/2014
Where are the charity watchdogs in L.A.? An ugly story from the City of Angels reminds us once again of how dangerous “public-private partnerships” can be, especially that worst of all such partnerships: government employee unions in bed with government officials. The government of Los Angeles has long granted a monopoly to the Department of...

TAGS: IBEW, ladwp, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power

California’s Green Bantustans

By Edward Ring
05/21/2014
One of the core barriers to economic prosperity in California is the price of housing. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Policies designed to stifle the ability to develop land are based on flawed premises. These policies prevail because they are backed by environmentalists, and, most importantly, because they have played into the...

TAGS: asset bubble, crony green capitalists, smart growth, urban containment

America’s Emerging Housing Crisis

By Joel Kotkin
05/21/2014
From the earliest settlement of the country, Americans have looked at their homes and apartments as critical elements of their own aspirations for a better life. In good times, when construction is strong, the opportunities for better, more spacious and congenial housing—whether for buyers or renters—tends to increase. But in harsher conditions, when there has...

Comparing Pension Reform in Pacific Grove vs. Bakersfield

By John Moore
05/21/2014
Editor’s note: Several times this year we have published in-depth investigative reports written by John Moore, a citizen activist living in Pacific Grove. This recent letter from Moore was addressed to the local newspapers serving Pacific Grove. Moore is unhappy with the coverage these newspapers have given the city of Pacific Grove’s pension crisis. The...

TAGS: CalPERS and Pacific Grove, Pacific Grove bankruptcy, Pacific Grove pension reform